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Friday, April 1, 2016

Today begins my first post leading up to bEARTHday, April 22. And it's no April Fool's post either.

I've been hanging my sheets, towels, blankets and clothes on my clothes line every day because it was 80 F (~ 27 C) or higher for several days. The winds were often over 40 to 50 mph, though, and once when I went out to get an afghan and a towel, they were twisted all over the line and one of the clothes pins had come apart.

I tell you this because, not to be confused with a clothes peg of single wooden construction,

it doesn't matter if your clothespins are plastic, old, or new (as shown above left to right)

they all have the same construction. And when they come apart, like they often do when the wind batters them, we often throw them away. Now I have saved the wooden parts in the past, thinking I would use them for doll legs or picket fences in an assembly,

but I never thought to save this metal spring before. Now I'm sure many of you with lots of grip could reassemble one of these clothespins, but as is often the case, one wooden side may be missing. As I looked at this spring, I thought it looked a bit like an elaborate jump ring for a bead.

So I took it to the basement to see if I could find a bead that it might fit in. I picked three. My favorite was the one on the far right, but it was too wide for the metal spring. Although I tried to spread the "jump ring," my fingers weren't strong enough and the angle was wrong when I tried to assemble it. I will need to play around with the angle once I get my needle nose pliers, all of which are on the main floor of my home.

I had absolutely no trouble getting the round polymer clay bead to fit in the jump ring spring.

Here it is ready for someone to wear.

Today was Day 1 of 22, where instead of sending this metal spring to the recycle bin, I turned it into a necklace. I'm sure there will be more to come as my clothespins often come apart now that I'm hanging my laundry on the clothesline.

Thanks for visiting. I am glad you joined me for this first day of April (no fooling), and will join me for a second look on the 2nd with a link to a previous post you wish to share with others tomorrow.

14
thoughtful remarks:

Lovely idea, the necklace looks great. I don't have any clothes pegs as we are not allowed to hang our washing outside here in this house - crazy, but there you are. Have a lovely month. have fun, hugs, Valerie

what a brilliant idea...I have missed some opportunities for jewelry making! I can so identify with the wind/clothesline/broken clothespin situation. surprised to hear it's been so warm at your house! You did have me "fooled" though, I thought for sure you were going to paint the clothespins somehow. Great little post for the day...looking forward to all of your bEARTHday posts! ♥

Bleubeard and I welcome you

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